Before upgrading to a larger HD, you'll want to "clone" your original HD using the donation-ware program "Carbon Copy Cloner" (http://www.bombich.com/). Put the new HD in an external case; clone the original; test the clone (by starting up with it), then take apart the MacBook to put the new HD in the MacBook, and the original in the external case for use as a backup, etc. (You can't just drag the contents of the original HD to the new HD, and expect it to work; not since the days of OS 9 and before.)

I made the mistake of wanting to do a clean install of OS and start fresh after installing a SSD. Now I can't install most browsers on OSX Leopard. Does anyone know what is the most current version of OS I can put on this system? (disk or download) Can I get to Snow or Lion?

You can install OS X 10.7 LION and no later version. Although LION runs ok with 2GB RAM it does help to get 1GB + 2GB = 3GB. Even if you install 2 X 4GB you will only utilize 3GB. Installing a SSD seems to make no difference since the SATA bus is only 1.5GB/s. A good 5400rpm disk is good enough. I even run BootCamp and Windows 7. Works fine. Not fast but fine. My A1212 refuses to die :-)

There seems to be some discrepancy about whether or not installing a SSD will help. See Phil's earlier comment from October 2015: there, *he* claims that having an SSD increases the load times significantly, (even though -- of course -- 1.5Gbps is not ideal)...

His quotation, (re-)cited integrally:

Just replaced my old HD with a Corsair Force LX SSD (which is SATA 1-3 compatible as required by this model) with success now my old 'outdated' laptop has super fast loading times and is postively flying faster than the speed of 'sound'. Thanks for the guide. Only problem I faced was replacing the top panel which after a few minutes of panic realised the rubber mounted Mic next to the left speaker had risen up when I had removed the top panel so after carefully pushing it back into place the panel fitted back how it should, so beware of this possible problem.

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Remove the three Phillips screws in the battery compartment near the latch. Apple was nice enough to tilt these screws at a slight angle to make them easier to remove. On the A1261 these screws have 4 mm diameter heads rather than the 3 mm heads on the body screws.

One of the screws here wouldn't bite going back in. I'm 100% certain it's the same screw that came out of it but it wouldn't bite going back, neither would any of the other two in this section in that particular hole.

To Damon - possibly the thread on the bottom of the upper case is obstructed.

I found that I needed to fight the latch magnet with the right-most screw in the photo. The screw was pulled away from the hole so a magnetized screwdriver was not enough to place it. I needed tweezers to hold the screw in place until it bit.

The Philips screws in Step 5 are longer than the other Philips screws. Would be better if the instructions differentiated them. Otherwise it is possible to use the wrong screws in Step 7 when reassembling.

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When reassembling, please be careful not to screw into the wrong spot. I accidentally screwed into the DVI port and it was hard to remove the screw after that. I had to disassemble the whole thing again, only to find that I couldn't remove the screw from within as it was encased. After much scraping and prodding with a sewing needle, I was able to get that screw out. Phew!

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Do not yank the upper case off quickly. The case is attached to the logic board via a ribbon cable.

Lift up the back of the case and work your fingers along the sides, freeing the case as you go. Once you have freed the sides, you may need to rock the case up and down to free the front of the upper case.

Once the upper case is free...Carefully tilt the upper case from the front towards the screen as their is a ribbon cable directly beneath the keyboard and trackpad that will need to be removed in the next step.

Be very careful not to bend the screw tabs on the top case the perimeter screws attach to. Bending them causes them to quickly fatigue and potentially break off. When reassembling the top case, be sure the tabs are all *inside* the case before reseating it. If you get resistance, pull the case back up, check the tabs and reseat the top case again.

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Disconnecting this cable is optional, if instead you tip up the top case ~75 degrees, propping it up with something non-metalic (wedged in or by the battery compartment). Unplugging a connector from the main circuit board always carries slight additional risk.

I did this with and without step 10 (removing the upper case with detached cable). Removing the cable is risk, putting it back on was not so easy. But then, leaning the keyboard part against the LCD while replacing the hard drive is also risky.

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Disconnect the two antenna cables from the AirPort Extreme card, the iSight and inverter cables from the left side of the logic board, and the display data cable from the right side of the logic board. Be careful to slide the connectors as they may become damaged otherwise.

For A1229 and A1212 models, disconnect the three antenna cables from the AirPort Extreme card and the three connectors highlighted on the logic board.

For the A1229, the order of the cables from left to right is: Black (left; towards the edge of the case) — Grey (middle) — Blue (right; towards the middle of the case.

For the A1261 model, disconnect the two antenna cables from the AirPort Extreme card and the three connectors highlighted on the logic board.

Carefully peel the iSight and inverter cables off the top of the left fan and de-route the AirPort antenna cables from the channel in the left speaker.

anybody got any advice re: how to detach the connector on that tiny little ribbon, the one on the upper left with the larger ribbon/connector alongside it? I tried and tried... gave up for fear of damaging the wires, plus concern about how difficult it might be to get it back in. Thx in adv

There are two sets of 2 on each side and two sets of 3 on the insides. The "long" screws with "flat" heads are meant for the INSIDE of the sets of 3. I will represent short screws by the letter "S" and the long screws by the letter "L":

Prying the rear display bezel off up with the plastic spudger can be frustrating. The plastic spudger just can't provide the torque. I actually used the combination of the plastic spudger (to start the separation) and a metal spudger to provide sufficient force to separate. I wrapped the metal spudger with some tape to prevent scratching. As usual, care is required to not bend the front bezel.

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Be careful pulling off the kapton tape. Because of the age of the computer and the continuous heating and cooling, the tape can become brittle and the adhesive will stick to the surface of the LCD and not the tape itself, making it unusable. If this happens, you can find small rolls of kapton tape on the internet or get it in the ifixit store.

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If you are replacing the LCD and not the front bezel, you really don't need to remove the clutch cover and clutch hinges. You have full access to the LCD screws and can remove it, skipping this step, as well as the steps 29, 30, 31, 32, 37 and 39. The clutch cover, inverter board and all cables will remain attached to the front bezel.

Especially since these computers are old now, these screws are easy to strip down. Make sure you don't screw them in too tightly, as you may not be able to take it back out. The middle of the 5 I had to leave abandoned. Thankfully, it didn't impede my repair.

The cables didn't fit right when I put the clutch onto the front bezel so I tried to disassemble but the middle screw is stuck. The tiny little cable that's connected to this screw ripped :( If I do manage to get the screw out, not sure if I have to replace this whole cable even though it's just a small side cable connected to the inverter cable I think.

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While pulling the clutch assembly away from the clutch hinge with one hand, insert an iPod opening tool between the clutch cover and the front display bezel to lift the clutch cover over the retaining pin on the front display bezel.

Before you completely detach the clutch assembly, take note of how everything is organized inside it, as you will be replicating it upon reassembly. The display data cable ended up being in the way as I was closing everything up and had to reopen everything to readjust it. Take pictures and see how it will fit into place before you reattach the clutch assembly and screw in the 5 screws.

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The pins may be hard to notice, but they are both emanating from the bezel as simple pins in sockets. The motion you are looking for to detach the clutch assembly is slightly outward towards you, and then sliding down.